Pickup Box Header and Integrated Toolbox Assembly

ABSTRACT

A pickup truck box assembly including a header, a truck bed, an upper header rail, and a toolbox is provided. The truck bed has a forward end supporting the header, a rear end having a tailgate pivotally mounted thereto, and a pair of wheel wells disposed on opposing sides of the truck bed. The upper header rail may be secured at an upper portion of the header. The toolbox may include an extruded body defining a channel extending laterally a width of the truck bed. A lower surface of the body may be spaced from the truck bed a distance greater than a height of the wheel wells. First and second body side panels may be mounted to the truck bed and arranged with the toolbox to define sidewalls of the toolbox. The upper header rail and the toolbox may be formed by extrusion as a single component.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/380,042filed Dec. 15, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated inits entirety by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to assemblies for pickup truck boxes includingan upper rail and an integrated toolbox.

BACKGROUND

Pickup trucks are motor vehicles with a front passenger area, oftenreferred to as a cab, and an open top rear cargo area, often referred toas a box. The box usually has a substantially flat bed from which twoside body panels and a forward interconnecting header extend upwardlyfrom the bed. Pickup trucks may also employ a bottom hinged door,commonly referred to as a tailgate, hinged at the rear edge of the bedand closable to provide a fourth wall for the cargo area. Cabs and boxesmay be separate assemblies or part of the same unibody structure. Pickuptrucks are popular largely because the box allows them to be utilized inmany different ways, including carrying a variety of types of cargo andtowing various types of trailers. Stamped pickup truck box componentsmay often be made from steel sheet metal. The components may formassemblies of multiple parts including multiple assembly steps.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a pickup truck boxassembly includes a header, an extruded upper rail, and a toolbox. Theheader includes a first flange extending at an angle away from atailgate. The extruded rail includes a second flange for securing to thefirst flange. The toolbox is integrated with the rail and includes anextruded body having a rear wall, a forward wall, and a lower wall. Thewalls are arranged with one another to define a cell therebetween. A lidmay be mounted to the forward wall for pivotal movement between at leasta closed and an open position. The forward wall may define acylinder-shaped channel extending laterally a length of the header. Thelid may include a cylinder-shaped insertion segment extending laterallythe length of the header and sized for insertion within thecylinder-shaped channel to facilitate the pivotal movement of the lid.Each of a pair of lateral channels may extend laterally beneath the celland may be formed by an extrusion process with the walls. The extrudedupper rail may be disposed between C-pillars of the pickup truck boxproviding additional stiffness to the pickup truck box. A truck bed maysupport the header. The toolbox and the upper rail may be arranged withone another such that the lower wall is spaced from the bedapproximately 240 mm. Each of a first and second truck bed side panelmay be mounted to a truck bed and arranged with the forward and lowerwalls to form sidewalls of the toolbox.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a pickup truckbox assembly includes a header, a truck bed, an upper header rail, and atoolbox. The truck bed has a forward end supporting the header, a rearend having a tailgate pivotally mounted thereto, and a pair of wheelwells disposed on opposing sides of the truck bed. The upper header railis secured at an upper portion of the header. The toolbox includes anextruded body defining a channel extending laterally a width of thetruck bed. A lower surface of the body is spaced from the truck bed adistance greater than a height of the wheel wells. First and second bodyside panels may be mounted to the truck bed and arranged with thetoolbox to define sidewalls of the toolbox. The upper header rail andthe toolbox may be formed by extrusion as a single component. Theextruded body may further include an interior surface and a verticalwall extending between the lower surface and the interior surface todefine two cells extending a length of the toolbox. The upper headerrail may define integrated attachments for receiving a portion of one ofa headache rack and a tonneau cover. A toolbox lid may be mounted to theupper header rail for pivotal movement between at least a closedposition in which access to the channel is prevented to an open positionin which access to the channel is provided. An upper portion of theupper rail may define a cylinder-shaped channel extending laterally alength of the header. The lid may include a cylinder-shaped insertionsegment extending laterally the length of the header and sized forinsertion within the channel to facilitate pivotal movement of the lid.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a toolboxintegrated with a pickup truck header includes a rear wall, a forwardwall, a lower wall, and a lid. The forward wall is for securing to anupper rail mounted to a header and including an upper end defining achannel extending laterally a length of the forward wall. The lower wallextends between the rear wall and the forward wall. The lid includes anextension sized for insertion within the channel to facilitate pivotalmovement. The walls are sized such that the lower wall is spaced from atruck bed a distance of 240 mm when mounted to the pickup truck header.The channel may define a cylinder-shape and the extension may define acylinder-shape. The forward wall may be mounted to a rear wall of anupper header rail of pickup truck box assembly by one of mechanicalfasteners, a weld, and an adhesive. A vertical wall may extend betweenthe lower wall and the toolbox interior surface to define two cellsextending a length of the toolbox. The walls may define a fixedcross-section. The forward wall may define integrated attachments forreceiving a portion of one of a headache rack and a tonneau cover.

The above aspects of the disclosure and other aspects will be apparentto one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the attached drawings andthe following detailed description of the illustrated embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of an example of a pickup truck.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of an example of an upper rail for aheader of a pickup truck.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the example of the upper rail of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the example of the upper rail ofFIG. 2 shown mounted to a header of a pickup truck.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the example of the upper rail ofFIG. 2 shown mounted to a header of a pickup truck.

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of another example of an upper railfor a header of a pickup truck.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of an example of an upper railassembly for a pickup truck including an example of a toolbox.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a portion of the upper rail assembly of FIG. 7showing a toolbox lid in a closed position.

FIG. 9 is a front perspective view of an example of an upper railassembly including a toolbox.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the example of the upper rail assembly of FIG.9 showing a toolbox lid in a partially open position.

FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of an example of the upper railassembly of FIG. 9 shown mounted to a pickup truck box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a vehicle 10 is illustrated thatincludes a cabin 12 and a truck box 14 supported by a vehicle chassis(not visible in FIG. 1). The vehicle 10 may be, for example, a pickuptruck comprising a majority of aluminum components. The truck box 14includes a bed 16 having a forward end adjacent to the cabin 12 and arear end opposite the forward end. The bed 16 supports a header 18 atthe forward end and a tailgate 20 at the rear end. The tailgate 20 ispivotally mounted to the bed 16. The bed 16 also supports a first outerside panel 22 and a second outer side panel 23. In this example, thevehicle 10 includes an A-pillar region 24A, a B-pillar region 24B, aC-pillar region 24C, and a D-pillar region 24D. The illustrated vehicle10 is a four door configuration, however other configurations, such as atwo door configuration, may be adopted to incorporate the disclosedconcepts. Alternate configurations may include different pillar regionreferences than the vehicle 10.

The first outer side panel 22 and the second outer side panel 23 aresecured to the header 18 at respective regions referred to as forwardbox pillar regions of the truck box 14 or the C-pillar regions 24Cherein. The tailgate 20 pivots between an open position and a closedposition. In the closed position as shown in FIG. 1, each lateral end ofthe tailgate 20 may be removably attached to the first outer side panel22 and the second outer side panel 23 at respective regions referred toas rear box pillar regions or the D-pillar regions 24D herein.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example of an upper rail for mounting to a headerof a pickup truck box assembly, referred to generally as an upper rail40 herein. The upper rail 40 includes a rear wall 42, a forward wall 44,an upper wall 46, and an angled wall 48. The rear wall 42 and theforward wall 44 may be oriented substantially parallel to one another. Amid-wall 52 may extend between the rear wall 42 and the forward wall 44.The walls may be arranged with one another to define a first channel 56and a second channel 58. The channels form two cells extending along theupper rail 40 that provide additional strength and rigidity to the upperrail 40.

The upper rail 40 may be formed by an extrusion process to formcomponents having a fixed or uniform cross-sectional profile. Heatedmaterial is extruded through a die of a desired cross-section. A ram ofa press pushes the material blank toward and through the die. Extrudingthe upper rail 40 provides an option to have varied componentthicknesses at various portions of the upper rail 40. For example, anincreased material thickness may span laterally a length of the upperrail 40 or an increased material thickness may be located at a portionof the upper rail 40 in which the rear wall 42 and the angled wall 48join one another to provide additional stiffness. Further, extrusionprocesses are typically less complex than stamping processes and producecomponents with improved finishes in comparison to stamped components.As such, the upper rail 40 may define a continuous and fixedcross-sectional profile.

An angled flange 62 extends from the rear wall 42 and the angled wall48. The angled flange 62 may extend forward at an angle greater thanninety degrees relative to the rear wall 42. The angled flange 62 may besecured to a flange of a header, such as flange 66. The angled flange 62may extend forward at an angle sufficient to provide spacing for a toolto apply fasteners to secure the angled flange 62 to flange 66. Theangled flange 62 and the flange 66 may be secured to one another by avariety of joining processes such as welding or mechanical fastening. Inanother example, the upper rail 40 may be secured to the header by anextension member extending from the rear wall 42 without an angle. Inyet another example, the upper rail 40 may define integrated attachmentsfor receiving a portion of a vehicle component such as a headache rackor a tonneau cover.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the upper rail 40 mounted to the flange 66 of aheader 68. The flange 66 may extend forward at an angle comparable tothe angle of the angle flange 62. The angled flange 62 and the flange 66may be arranged with one another such that a body portion 72 of theheader 68 is substantially parallel with the rear wall 42 and theforward wall 44 of the upper rail 40.

FIG. 6 shows another example of an upper rail for securing to a headerof a pickup truck assembly, referred to generally as an upper rail 80herein. The upper rail 80 includes a forward wall 84, an upper wall 86,and an angled flange 88. The angled flange 88 may extend from theforward wall 84 at an angle greater than ninety degrees relative to therear wall 42. The upper rail 80 may be formed by an extrusion process asdescribed above. The angled flange 88 may be secured to a flange 94 of aheader 96. The flange 94 may extend from a body portion 98 of the header96 at an angle comparable to the angle of the angled flange 88. Theangle flange 88 and the flange 94 may be arranged with one another suchthat the forward wall 84 and the body portion 98 are orientedsubstantially parallel with one another. In another example, the upperrail 40 may be secured to the header by an extension member extendingfrom the rear wall 42 without an angle. An extension 99 may extend fromthe upper wall 86 at substantially ninety degrees. The extension 99 mayassist in providing additional stiffness to the upper rail 80 and mayalso provide a softer edge to increase customer appeal.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show an example of a toolbox integrated with the upperrail 40, referred to generally as a toolbox 100 herein. The toolbox 100may be formed by an extrusion process as described above. The toolbox100 includes a rear wall 104, a forward wall 106, and a lower wall 108.The walls may be arranged with one another to define a channel 112. Inone example, the channel 112 may have a width of 100 mm to 250 mm. Thechannel 112 may be sized to receive, for example, tools or otherobjects. A vertical wall 114 may extend between the lower wall 108 andan interior wall 116 to define a first cell 120 and a second cell 122.Each of the first cell 120 and the second cell 122 extend a length ofthe toolbox 100.

Prior art toolboxes for pickup trucks are typically a separatecomponent, bulky, and cut down on available space within a pickup truckbox assembly. The toolbox 100 addresses these issues. The lower wall 108of the toolbox 100 may be spaced from the truck bed at a distance equalto or greater than a height of wheel wells of the truck box. Forexample, the lower wall 108 may be spaced from a truck bed approximately240 mm where a height of the respective wheel wells is approximately 233mm. This spacing may provide for materials to be positioned within thetruck box and extend to the header. In comparison, prior art toolboxesrest just above the truck bed.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a lid 124 mounted for rotation to the upperrail 40. The lid 124 may rotate between at least an open position toprovide access to contents within the toolbox 100 and a closed positionin which the lid 124 prevents access to contents within the toolbox 100.The lid 124 may be mounted to the upper rail 40 by, for example, a hingemechanism to facilitate the movement between the open position and theclosed position.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show another example of a lid 130 mounted for rotation tothe upper rail 40. The lid 130 may rotate between at least an openposition to provide access to contents within the toolbox 100 and aclosed position in which the lid 130 prevent access to contents withinthe toolbox 100. In this example, the upper rail 40 includes a channel134 extending laterally along an upper portion of the upper rail 40. Thelid 130 includes an insertion member 138 sized for insertion within thechannel 134. In this example, the channel 134 defines a substantiallycylindrical shape and the insertion member 138 defines a matching shapeto permit rotation of the lid 130. Other suitable shapes are availablefor the channel 134 and the insertion member 138 to facilitate rotationof the lid 130.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the toolbox 100 mounted within a pickuptruck box assembly, referred to generally as a truck box assembly 200.The truck box assembly 200 includes a first body side panel 204, asecond body side panel 206, and a header 208 mounted to a truck bed 210.The first body side panel 204 and the second body side panel 206 may bearranged with the truck bed 210 to form sidewalls for the toolbox 100.For example, the body side panels are arranged with the walls of thetoolbox 100 to define a closed cavity for receiving contents therein.

The upper rail 40, the upper rail 80, and the toolbox 100 may be formedof an aluminum alloy. Aluminum alloys are generally identified by afour-digit number, the first digit of which typically identifies themajor alloying element. When describing a series of aluminum alloysbased on the major alloying element, the first number may be followed bythree x's (upper or lower case) or three 0's (zeros). For example, themajor alloying element in 6xxx or 6000 series aluminum alloy ismagnesium and silicon, while the major alloying element of 5xxx or 5000series is magnesium and for 7xxx or 7000 series is zinc. Additionalnumbers represented by the letter ‘x’ or number ‘0’ in the seriesdesignation define the exact aluminum alloy. For example, a 6061aluminum alloy has a composition of 0.4-0.8% Silicon, 0-0.7% Iron,0.15-0.4% Copper, 0-0.15% Manganese, 0.8-1.2% Magnesium, 0.04-0.35%Chromium, 0-0.25% Zinc, and 0-0.15% Titanium. Different alloys providedifferent trade-offs of strength, hardness, workability, and otherproperties.

In addition, five basic temper designations may be used for aluminumalloys which are: F—as fabricated, O—annealed, H—strain hardened,T—thermally treated, and W—as quenched (between solution heat treatmentand artificial or natural aging). The temper designation may be followedby a single or double digit number for further delineation. For example,aluminum with a T6 temper designation has been solution heat treated andartificially aged, but not cold worked after the solution heat treatment(or such that cold working would not be recognizable in the materialproperties).

The embodiments described above are specific examples that do notdescribe all possible forms of the disclosure. The features of theillustrated embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments ofthe disclosed concepts. The words used in the specification are words ofdescription rather than limitation. The scope of the following claims isbroader than the specifically disclosed embodiments and also includesmodifications of the illustrated embodiments.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pickup truck box assembly comprising: a header;a forward bed end supporting the header; a rear bed end having atailgate pivotally mounted thereto; a pair of wheel wells disposed onopposing bed sides; an upper rail secured at a header upper portion; anda toolbox including a body defining a lateral channel, wherein a lowerbody surface is spaced from the bed a distance greater than a wheel wellheight.
 2. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising first and secondbody side panels mounted to the bed, wherein the side panels arearranged with the toolbox to define sidewalls of the toolbox.
 3. Theassembly of claim 1, wherein the upper rail and the toolbox are formedby extrusion as a single component.
 4. The assembly of claim 1, whereinthe body further comprises an interior surface and a vertical wallextending between the lower body surface and the interior surface todefine two cells extending a length of the toolbox.
 5. The assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the upper rail defines integrated attachments forreceiving a portion of one of a headache rack and a tonneau cover. 6.The assembly of claim 1 further comprising a toolbox lid, wherein thelid is mounted to the upper rail for pivotal movement between at least aclosed position in which access to the channel is prevented to an openposition in which access to the channel is provided.
 7. The assembly ofclaim 1 further comprising a toolbox lid, wherein an upper portion ofthe upper rail defines a cylinder-shaped channel extending laterally alength of the header, and wherein the lid includes a cylinder-shapedinsertion segment extending laterally the length of the header and sizedfor insertion within the channel to facilitate pivotal movement of thelid.
 8. A toolbox integrated with a pickup truck header comprising: arear wall; a forward wall for securing to an upper rail mounted to aheader and including an upper end defining a channel extending laterallya length of the forward wall; a lower wall extending between the rearwall and the forward wall; and a lid including an extension sized forinsertion within the channel to facilitate pivotal movement, wherein thewalls are sized such that the lower wall is spaced from a truck bed adistance of 240 mm when mounted to the pickup truck header.
 9. Thetoolbox of claim 8, wherein the channel defines a cylinder-shape, andwherein the extension defines a cylinder-shape.
 10. The toolbox of claim8, wherein the forward wall is mounted to a rear wall of an upper headerrail of pickup truck box assembly by one of mechanical fasteners, aweld, and an adhesive.
 11. The toolbox of claim 8 further comprising avertical wall extending between the lower wall and toolbox interiorsurface to define two cells extending a length of the toolbox.
 12. Thetoolbox of claim 8, wherein the walls define a fixed cross-section. 13.The toolbox of claim 8, wherein the forward wall defines integratedattachments for receiving a portion of one of a headache rack and atonneau cover.